There are a variety of prior art devices for stripping fiber optic cables. One type of device utilizes a pair of stripping blades that come together to strip the buffer or coating off of the fiber. The desired effect is for the stripping blades to not come in contact with the fiber and to remove the buffer or the coating with as little damage to the fiber as possible. Any contact between the blades and the fiber or rubbing of the buffer or the coating against the fiber during stripping may damage the fiber. Any damage to the fiber tends to reduce its strength and may cause breaking of the fiber. Testing of the fibers has indicated that the weakest point of a fiber, where a fiber normally tends to break, is either: 1) in a ferrule chamfer where stress is the highest or 2) at where stripping blades have first made contact with the fiber during stripping of the cable.
Because of the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) initiative, fiber, nowadays, must endure outside environments, where undamaged or strong fiber provides a significant advantage. If a fiber breaks during when the fiber is in service, it may cause service outage for the end user. This is a major concern among fiber customers.
Improved devices for stripping fiber optic cables are desired.